Solid carbon dioxide cake packaging apparatus



May 16, 1950 s. T. ROBINSON, JR 2,507,996

SOLID CARBON DIOXIDE CAKE PACKAGING APPARATUS Filed Dec. 17, 1945 INVENTOR. Samuel yflfRobinson, Jr.

BY MW ATTORNEY Patented May 16, 1950 UNITED PATENT OFFICE SOLID CARBON DIOXIDE CAKE'PACKAGING' APPARATUS Samuel/1. Robinsom Jr., Wyandotte; Mich.,. ast-. signorto. Wyandotte. Chemicals Gorporatiom. Wyandotte; Mich., a corporation of .Michigan- Application December-'17, 1945; Serial'No. 635594 5 Claims.

The present invention relates to an apparatus forpackaging cakesor blocksiof'refrigerant such as pressed; solidcarbon dioxide, commonly-known as dry ice. Such cakes onblocks;substantially of cubical shape and weighing fifty pounds", are packaged-in. paper wrappers o1: bagsfiior sanitary, safety, handling and storagev purposes. Due-to the relatively low temperature-- of such Dry Ice cakes, they cannot convenientlybe handledxwith the bare hands and" without some sort .of protection, such as heavy gloves. The latteroften prove cumbersome to the workman engaged in handling and packaging the Dry- Icecakes.

Furthermore, due to the relatively" heavy weight of such cakes. or blocks, difliculty has often been encountered during: the. insertion of same into paper bags because there is the likelihood of tearing or rupturing the-bag.

It is; therefore; the general: object and: nature of'my invention to provide. apackaging'apparatus ormachine for. inserting the. cakes: or blocks into a paper bag: without necessitatingthe handling or manipulating ofthercakes by the operator; and whereby such. insertion is: accomplished with a minimum of forceand violence so that there is: very little likelihood ottearing: or breaking the paperbag.

A further object and advantage: of: my inventtion is that thetDry Ice cakes or'blockssare caused to be moved and inserted :into the: interior; of the previously opened: bagby reason of their own movement down an inclined plane;

A. further object and: advantage of my invention isto provide bag holder and filling-device which is relatively simplified in construction; requiresno power" of operating mechanism; and is movable from a bag. receiving positionv to abag filling packaging discharge. position; the-latter position being in alignment with. the inclined plane down which the cake OI'IJIOCkiiS caused: to

move.

Additional objects and advantages of my in:- vention become apparent as the following description'proceeds;

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends and to enable any'p'erson skilled in the art readil to understand and practice: the invention, th following full and concise description and annexed drawingset forth the best mode in which I have contemplated applying the principle thereof;

In said annexed drawing Fig. 1. isia-perspective view of the apparatus embodying theprineiple of my invention, and

Fig. 2 is a side elevational; view of the same apparatus, with portions broken awayan'd' foreshort'ened for the purpose of convenience inillustration.

' Now referring more particularly to the drawing, the apparatus shown therein comprises a roller conveyor having the side frame members i and Z which-in turn carry the conveyon rollers 3; Such: rollerr conveyor ismountedat, arslight anglexto thehorizontal; such as being --supported upon thebase members or standards" 4- and 5. The upper: or left hand end" of the conveyor is adapted to. receive the unpackag ed: Dry Ice cake or block, such as indicated-atC; and the latter is adapted to travel by its own weight down the length of the conveyor,.tobeeomerinserted:inithe paper bag B and finally delivered onethe lower endof the conveyor in the formrof the cake;- (3 enclosed". in the bagB;,whereup on the: mouthof the bag B can-she simply: folded: over and closed, sealedina suitablemanner'sueh as-by theappliication of gummed tape, thus producing; the finished package.

The insertion. of the 'cakerC. in .therbag B is ace complished by means of the: parts of the mechanism now to lie-described; A rectangularly;v or box sh-aped, housing or-b-ag holder, indicated generally at H, and; havingthe side wallsct andland the bottom wall fl is pivotally' mounted at 9;. 9 to the conveyor side frames I and 2. Therm:- ternal dimensions of the-housing. H are such as to receivethe: cake C. Outwardly flaring guide plates I B andi! l mounted on the upper'onenztrance end of: the housingl-I, project'from the side walls 6 and 'land-aidin guiding the cake-Crinto such housing.

A flap I2 is hinged at l3to the topoii the;housing or bag holder and normallymccupies the position as shown in' Fig. 1 where it is in alignment with the sloping edges'of the side walls fi and l. hand. lever M is rigidly connected to the flap lZ through the hinge l3, wherebyethefiap l2 maybe moved or swung, in'an upward" direction in: a: position parallel to thebottom wall :8 of the bag holder H; A stop pin l5 projecting from the side-wall 6, determines the extent of movement of the lever M" and correspondingly of the flap l2;

L-shaped arms I6 and ll are secured to the sidewalls-ii "andl, respectively; of'thewhousing or bag holder and ata point adjacent the pivots 9. A counterweight I8 is carried on the lower portions of'the L-sh-aped" arms l6 and I! and is adjustabl'e tothe desiredpositi'on by suitable means, such as by'the use of set'screws or pins passing through the holes IS. The counterweight l-8, occupying a position on the opposite side of the pivots -9- to that of the body of the'bag holder H, is adapted normally tohold and balance the bag holder in itsupwardlytipped position as shown in solid lines in Fig, 2'. The entrance of the cake-C into the bag'hol'd'er-Hoveroomes the eifect ofthe counterweight It and swings. or tips the bag holder down. into the position shown in dotted lines in Fig; 2 where 'it' is in alignment with the plane of the conveyor. A bracket 20 carrying an adjustable screw 21 is adapted to limit the downward movement of the bag holder H, by reason of the lower end of the screw 2| contacting with the upper side of the frame member I.

The operation of the above described apparatus should now be fairly well apparent. The paper bag, indicated by the dotted lines B in Fig. 2 is inserted over the right hand end of the bag holder H, viz: around the walls 6, l and 8, and by manipulation of the lever M, the flap I2 is swung to open the bag B to a fully opened position. The cake C, such as might be delivered from the hydraulic press or another conveyor (not shown), then goes down the roller conveyor into the mouth of the bag holder H and into the bag B, simultaneously tipping or pivotally swinging the bag holder to the dotted line position shown in Fig. 2. If necessary, the rate of the movement of the cake C may be slightly retarded or braked by manipulation of the lever arm [4 and flap I2. The bag B and cake C then continue to move down the roller conveyor as shown in the right hand portion of Fig. 2, with the cake C inserted in the interior of the bag B.

It will be noted that the flight or run of the rollers 3 is discontinuous, thus providing an open space in the conveying portion of the conveyor, and that this open space extends from the upper to the lower end of the bag holder H. That is, the open space in the conveyor is co-extensive with the length of the bottom wall 8 of the bag holder H, and when the latter is swung into a position in alignment with the plane of the roller conveyor, such bottom wall 8 bridges this open space. The purpose of this last described feature of construction, is to permit the bag B and contained cake to be ejected or slid off from the bottom wall 8, without any impedance or binding action.

Other modes of applying the principle of my invention, in addition to the one hereinabove described and illustrated in detail, may be employed, provided the structural elements stated by any of the following claims or the equivalent of such elements be utilized.

I, therefore, particularly point out and distinctly claim as my invention and discovery:

1. In an apparatus of the character described, the combination of a horizontally inclined roller conveyor, said conveyor having an open space intermediate its ends, and a bag holder adapted to bridge such space and being pivotally mounted adjacent its upper end to said conveyor, said bag holder being pivotally movable from a bag receiving position where it is tipped above such space to a position where it bridges such space in alignment with the plane of said conveyor, such pivotal movement of said bag holder being effected by the weight of the article to be packaged moving into the bag holder.

2. In an apparatus for packaging cakes of solid carbon dioxide and the like, the combination of a horizontally inclined conveyor and a box shaped bag holder pivotally mounted adjacent one end to said conveyor, said bag holder being open at one end for the reception of the cake and having inclined side walls forming a narrow end for the reception of the bag, said bag holder being pivotally movable from a position angularly inclined with respect to the plane of said conveyor to a position with its bottom wall coincident with the plane of said conveyor, such pivotal movement being effected by the weight of the cake moving into said bag holder.

0 Number 3. In an apparatus for packaging cakes of solid carbon dioxide and the like, the combination of a horizontally inclined conveyor, a box shaped bag holder pivotally mounted adjacent one end to said conveyor, said bag holder being open at one end for the reception of the cake and having inclined side walls forming a narrow end for the reception of the bag, said bag holder being pivotally movable from a position angularly inclined with respect to the plane of said conveyor to a position with its bottom wall coincident with the plane of said conveyor, such pivotal movement being effected by the weight of the cake moving into said bag holder, a flap pivotally mounted on the bag receiving end of said bag holder for spreading the bag after its insertion onto said bag holder and a lever connected to said flap for pivotally moving the latter.

4. In an apparatus for packaging cakes oi. solid carbon dioxide and the like, the combination of a horizontally inclined conveyor, said conveyor having an open space intermediate its ends, a box shaped bag holder pivotally mounted adjacent one end to said conveyor, the bottom wall of said bag holder being adapted to bridge such space, said bag holder being open at one end for the reception of the cake and having inclined side walls forming a narrow end for the reception of the bag, said bag holder being pivotally movable from a position angularly inclined with respect to the plane of said conveyor to a position with its bottom wall coincident with the plane of said conveyor, such pivotal movement being eifected by the weight of the cake moving into said bag holder, and a counterweight connected to said bag holder adjacent its pivot for normally holding said bag holder in such angularly inclined position.

5. In an apparatus for packaging cakes of solid carbon dioxide and the like, the combination of a horizontally inclined conveyor, said conveyor having an open space intermediate its ends, a box shaped bag holder pivotally mounted adjacent one end to said conveyor, the bottom wall of said bag holder being adapted to bridge such space, said bag holder being open at one end for the reception of the cake and having inclined side walls forming a narrow end for the reception of the bag, said bag holder being pivotally movable from a position angularly inclined with respect to the plane of said conveyor to a position with its bottom wall coincident with the plane of said conveyor, such pivotal movement being effected by the weight of the cake moving into said bag holder, a flap pivotally mounted in the bag receiving end of said bag holder for spreading the bag after its insertion onto said bag holder, a lever connected to said flap for pivotally moving the latter, and a counterweight connected to said bag holder adjacent its pivot for normally holding said bag holder in such angularly inclined position.

SAMUEL T. ROBINSON, JR.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Name Date De Mars Sept. 1'7, 1940 Gribner Jan. 15, 1946 Buchanan June 25, 1946 Williams et a1 Nov. 15, 1946 

